CHAPTER 1 5 A Simple Frequency Counter counter. It uses the timer function in the Arduino’s Atmel processor and measures frequencies from the audio range to allttle over 6 MHz. Itis constructed ona single Arduino R3 prototyping shield and includes an LCD to readout the frequency. The counter is surprisingly accurate and can easily be calibrated with a known accurate frequency source. The chapter ends with a discussion of how to use the frequency counter with a typical QRP radio that lacks a frequency readout. We use the Arduino Frequency Counter to measure the Variable Frequency Oscillator or “VFO" frequency and then dis ‘The frequency counter is a nice addition to many low-cost QRP rigs. Figure 15-1 shows the I: this chapter we construct a simple device for measuring frequency called a frequency lay the corresponding receive or transmit frequency on an LCD. Ficure 15-1 The Arduino frequency counter connected to an MF Cub QRP transceiver. 331Chapter 15: A Simple Frequency Counter 333 Ficune 15-3 Deriving a digital signal from the sine wave. Circuit Description ‘The input conditioning circuit for the frequency counter is shown in Figure 15-4. Two BC547B NPN bipolar transistors, Qi and Q2, are cascaded to provide sufficient gain that a relatively low level signal produces adequate signal level to pin 5 of the Arduino for the counter to function. Table 15-1 is the parts list for the frequency counter. sve 2 ofr aL ox orsiTA Ps a € a oSie oo Ficune 15-4 Frequency counter shield schematic.334 Arduino Projects for Amateur Radio Ref Description Part Number Source / Mfg i 2-pin header, 0.1-in. centers 12 33 WH 1% W fixed inductor RI, R3 470 KO 4 W resistor 5% was | Hares " zrinptgandpins on center | MERIAL iy ui Dual D-type Flip-flop SN7474 or equiv Jameco, Mouser, Taos 15-1 Parts List for the Frequency Counter Constructing the Shield You may have noticed from the schematic (Figure 15-4) that the frequency counter uses digital input pin 5 and that we have already used this pin for the LCD display in Chapter 3. True, but pins in conflict is something that we encounter time and time again while working with Arduino and Arduino-related projects. What can we do? As designers, we do the best job we can of optimizing re-use of the preceding projects in constructing new projects, but we can't always win. You may recall that we discussed the issues with “deconflicting” pins in Chapter 10, “Project Integration” But, for this project, we have decided to use a dedicated LCD on the frequency counter shield, thus mitigating the conflict between pins. The component layout for the frequency counter shield is shown in Figure 15-5. We have constructed the frequency counter shield on a ProtoPro-B prototyping shield. In laying out the components for the shield, we encounter several issues. First, we must allow space for the large amount of real estate taken up by the LCD on the shield. Having the LCD mounted on the shield means that we need to use some low-profile construction techniques. You could, of course, make the LCD removable. The second issue is with regards to good high-frequency design. We bring high-frequency signals into the frequency counter shield and it is important that we keep these signals from affecting other parts of the Arduino. Good construction practice is that we keep leads short and that we bypass all power leads. These practices do not completely eliminate RF signals from getting into places we don't want them; however, they reduce the chances of our getting intoChapter 15: A Simple Frequency Counter val Lote ad an | Bo oorasene CF T T Tower? Ficure 15-8 Divide by four prescaler using two D-Type Flip-Flops. An Alternate Design for Higher Frequencies One of the limitations of the Arduino and in particular the Atmel ATmega328 processor family is the maximum rate at which the timer can count. Using a 16 MHz clock rate (normal for the Arduino Duemilanove and Uno), the maximum frequency that can be expected to be read is a little above 6 MHz. So, if we want to measure higher frequencies, what do we do? ‘One alternative is to add a prescaler to the counter. The prescaler goes between the input signal conditioning transistor and digital pin 5. We use a binary counter to divide the frequency down to a range that can be measured. In this case, we are adding a TTL Dual D-Type Flip- Flop, an SN7474 14 Pin DIP part. A single D-Type Flip-Flop is configured as a “divide by two” counter by connecting the Q “NOT,’ or Q “bar” output, to the “D” input of the Flip-Flop and applying the input pulses to the clock input. The “Q” output is half the rate of the input pulse rate. Figure 15-8 shows both halves of an SN7474 Dual Flip-Flop configured as a divide by Ficure 15-9 Parts layout for the prescaled frequency counter, 337338 Arduino Projects for Amateur Radio woewcs Fegtsay TO DIGITAL soatoa omen PINS Ficure 15-10 Wiring diagram for the prescaled frequency counter, four counter and inserted between the collector of QI, the input transistor, and digital pin 5 of the Arduino, Thus, for every four pulses of the input waveform, the Arduino counts only one, So, instead of being limited to a little over 6 MHz on our counter, we can now measure frequencies to approximately 24 MHz. Jumper JP1 in Figure 15-8 is used to select between divide by two or divide by four. A CMOS Dual D-Type Flip-Flop, the CD4013B, can be used as an alternative to the TTI SN7474. Either part works; however, the CD4013B has a different pinout than the SN7474. Figures 15-9 and 15-10 show the way we built the “prescaler” with a parts layout and wiring for this add-on design. To read the correct frequency on the LCD, we also made a modification to the software to multiply the count by one, two, or four by uncommenting the appropriate #define statement. This means that the prescaler is selectable when you compile the software. Code Walk-Through for Frequency Counter By this time, you have seen many different Arduino programs, and they all follow much the same basic structure. The frequency counter is no different. We start out with some definitions and then follow that with the initialization of the LCD in setup() and then the main body of the program is342 Arduino Projects for Amateur Radio Displaying the Tuned Frequency of Your Display-less QRP Rig ‘There are a number of QRP radios that take a minimalist approach in their design and as a result have no frequency display. For many of these rigs, itis a fairly simple matter to connect a frequency counter, such as the one described in this project, to obtain a direct frequency readout. We describe how to connect the Arduino Frequency Counter to a typical QRP radio and then give several examples. There are several different approaches to the design of QRP radios. The simplest is the “direct conversion” or “zero IF" receiver/transmitter, but more and more dual-conversion transceivers are being built because availability of low-cost circuits like the SA602/SA612 Double Balanced Mixer/ Oscillator chip. We discuss the dual-conversion applications first and then the direct conversion sets. We show how the Arduino Frequency Counter is connected to several popular QRP radios available today. We have selected the MFJ Cub QRP Transceiver as an example. The Cub has six different models, each a single band transceiver. Double Conversion Applications ‘The majority of QRP radios these days use a double conversion scheme. ‘The availability of low- cost mixer/oscillator combination chips, such as the SA602, has made it very economical and provides a high degree of stability and performance. But, many times what comes with the low cost is no frequency display. You get a radio with a tuning knob. And with that, you have no idea where you are on the band, What these radios need is a frequency display. The double conversion receiving scheme is shown in Figure 15-11. A double conversion transmitter would be very similar, with the signal flow in the opposite direction. The first mixer combines the incoming signal with the VFO to produce a signal in the intermediate frequency or “IF” passband. The second mixer combines the output of the IF with the BFO (Beat Frequency Oscillator) to produce the recovered audio signal. The key elements of this project are determining the frequency of the VFO and the IF. The IF is a fixed frequency and should be known from the radio design. The VEO is variable and is what we want to measure with the frequency counter. In many cases, the transmitter is also controlled by the same VFO as the receiver, but the second mixer may be separate and operating ata slightly different frequency than the receiver. Why is the transmitter on a different frequency? Often we use the transmitted signal as a sidetone to monitor our sending by leaving the receiver operating but with greatly attenuated output. If there was no = a HSH ve 4 vFo FREQ counter Ficune 15-11 Double conversion scheme.Chapter 15: A Simple Frequency Counter offset between the transmitted and received frequencies, we would hear a tone of zero Hz. A better way to state this is that the resulting tone would be zero Hz and we can't hear that. It may actually be more important to know the transmitted frequency rather than the received frequency. Many times, this choice really depends on the design of the radio and how accessible the transmit frequency is. In either case, the methodology remains the same. As an example, let's use a radio operating at 14 MHz with a 5 MHz IF. Assume the radio tunes, 14.000 through 14.070 MHz. With these numbers in mind, the VFO operates at the difference of the two frequencies; therefore when the radio is tuned to 14.000, the VFO is 14.000 minus 5.000, yielding a difference of 9 MHz. We use the frequency counter to measure the VFO frequency (Le, 9 MHz) and that result is added to the IF (ie., 5 MHz) and the sum of these two values is the radio's frequency (14 MHr). Again, there may be small offsets introduced between transmit and receive to provide a sidetone frequency on transmit, but these can be determined and taken into account when the display frequency is calculated. Because the IF is fixed, if we know the result at one VFO setting, we use the same calculation at any VEO setting for this radio on this band. Adding a Frequency Display to the MF) Cub QRP Transceiver MEY has a series of single-band QRP radios. These offer some good performance for the cost, but they do lack a frequency display. We chose to add the frequency display to the 40 Meter Cub, the ME] 9340 transceiver. From the information provided by MEJ in the Cub’s manual, the VFO operates in the 5 MHz. range and the IF is 12 MHz. Different bands use different combinations of VEO and IF frequencies as illustrated in Table 15-2. ‘When the VFO frequency is less than 6 MHz, the counter is used without a divider stage; hence the NA entries in Table 15-2. For the Cub, only two models require a divider: 9317 and 9315. A divide by 2 circuit is sufficient in these two cases. Asiit turns out, the Cub makes it very easy to add the frequency display. In this case, we monitor the transmit frequency. The Cub uses an $A602 Mixer/ Oscillator for the first mixer and VFO as shown in the partial schematic in Figure 15-12. The output of the oscillator not only is used in the receiver's first mixer, itis passed to the transmitter through a buffer transistor, Q4. The buffer is always on so we can monitor the transmit frequency all the time. Transmit power level is controlled by the divider network of R18 and R19. We tap into the transmit VFO across the pot, R19. Figure 15-13 shows how we installed a small length of RG-174 coax from our tie point on R19 to an RCA jack to access the VFO buffer output. We drilled a new hole and mounted the RCA jack on the rear panel. Figure 15-14 is @ close-up, showing the center conductor of the coax (the white lead) connected to the “hot” side of the pot, R19. The coax shield is connected to the ground side of the pot and is the black wire One thing to note: When the frequency counter is attached to the Cub, the VFO frequency is “pulled” off slightly. This is to be expected, as even with the buffer stage our circuit loads down the oscillator in the SA602. This is not a big deal, but we have to account for it in our calibration adjustments. MODEL BAND VEO iF DIVIDER 9380 80 6 10 NA 9340 40 5 2 NA 9330 30 4a 6 NA 9320 20 4 10 NA 9317 7 8.06 10 32 9315 15 9 2 32 Taote 15-2 MPU Cub Transceiver VFO and IF Frequencies 3BChapter 15: A Simple Frequency Counter Ficune 15-14 Close-up of the pickoff installed in the 40 Meter MFJ Cub ORP transceiver. the signal is zero beat on the receiver, note the displayed frequency on the Arduino LCD. The difference between the displayed frequency and the receiver's 7.000 is the calibration offset that is used in the frequency counter. It is important to note whether the displayed value is larger or smaller than the receiver's frequency as this difference determines whether the adjustment, or “offset? is added to or subtracted from the frequency counters displayed value. ‘The offset is used for the CALOFFSET definition in the program. Adding a Frequency Display to a NorCal 40 ‘The NorCal 40, developed by Wayne Burdick (NKR) of Elecraft fame, was originally distributed by the Northern California QRP Club. The NorCal 40 is now available through Wilderness Radio (http://www.fix.net/~jparker/wild.htm)). This isa very popular radio and many of them have been sold over the years. The NorCal 40 does lack a frequency display, and adding one is fairly simple. Figure 15-15 shows the frequency plan of the radio. The NorCal 40A uses a VEO covering the range of 2.085 to 2.125 MHz giving a tuning range of 40 kHz, The VFO is mixed with a 7.000 MHz incoming signal, the difference producing the IF of 4.9150 MHz. The IF is mixed with the BFO at 4.9157 MHz, the difference being 700 Hz, which isa pleasant pitch for copying Morse code on CW. The transmit scheme is the reverse, but with a slightly different mixer frequency. For 7.000 MHz out, the 2.085 MHz VEO is mixed with 4.9150, the sum being 7,000 Miz. By using a separate TX LO and RX BFO that differ by 700 Hz, the receive frequency is offset to provide sidetone and a pleasant tone for reception. Figure 15-16 is a partial schematic of the NorCal 40A showing the best points to connect the frequency counter. JFET Q8 is the common VFO and the frequency counter is connected across the RF choke (RFC2) connected to Q8's source lead, Just as we did with the Cub, we use a short length of RG174 coax, connecting the center conductor to the Q8 source side and the shield braid 345346 Arduino Projects for Amateur Radio PRODUCT PAMPER 49150 ¥Hz DETECTOR 7.000 - 7.040 Miz IFFILTER 700 He AUDIO OUT 2.085 ~ 2.125 Miz me VFORIT BFO, ‘COUNTER 49187 WHE 7.000 ~ 7.040 Mee Te TO BUFFER/PA aes FE sree Ficune 15-15 _ NorCal 40A partial block diagram showing frequency plan. veo Tx VEO aes emia | VFO FREQUENCY = 2.085 Mz oe TK OFFSET = 4.9150 MMe ‘SUM = 7,000 Mie PRUE’ COUNTER Ficune 15-16 NorCal 40A partial schematic showing connection for frequency counter. to the ground side of RFC2. The value in the program for PRESCALER is set to 1 and for FIRSTIF is set to 4.9150. Again, the value for CALOFFSET must be determined by testing. Direct Conversion Applications There are a number of Direct Conversion (DC) radio designs available. Figure 15-17 shows how a direct conversion receiver is configured. For the sake of clarity, only the receiver is shown. ‘The receiver consists of an RE amplifier stage followed by a mixer. The VFO is operating at close to the same frequency as the incoming signal. The output is the difference between the frequency of the incoming signal and the VEO frequency. What we want in the output is in the audio range, so if the VFO is close to the received frequency (in other words, within a kHz or so), the difference is an audio signal. We can measure the frequency of the VFO and have a pretty good idea of the received frequency. It won't be exact because we designed the receiver to be slightly off frequency so that we would recover an audio output. If the VFO were exactly the same as the incoming frequency, the difference would be zero and there would be no recovered signal. Because a DC radio uses a common VFO for transmit and receive, the transmitted frequency is the sameas the receive frequency. Generally this causes a problem in that when the received and transmitted signals are on the same frequency, there is no difference signal to be heard as audio. The recovered signal is zero Hz, Many DC radios use a TX offset to move the transmittedChapter 15: A Simple Frequency Counter 347 RF AMP. AF AMP VFO FREQ COUNTER Ficune 15-17 _ Direct conversion scheme, frequency slightly away from the received frequency in order to have enough difference to produce an audio tone on the output, Typical offsets are in the range of 500 to 1000 Hz. To connect the frequency counter to a DC radio, it is only necessary to identify the radio's VFO circuitry as we have done in the previous examples and connect the frequency counter's input to the output of the VFO. Other Radio Applications The Arduino Frequency Counter is usable with a wide variety of radios; not just QRP sets. Any radio can have a digital frequency display added. It is simply a matter of determining where to “pickoff” the signal to be measured and adding a connection. There are some complexity issues when dealing with a multiband radio, however. The QRP rigs we have discussed are kit-built, single-band rigs. ‘The VFO and, in the case of dual-conversion schemes, the LO are operating over fixed ranges. However, in a multiband radio, while the VEO generally remains in a fixed range and the IF remains fixed, the LO changes to accommodate the different bands. This implies that, while the math may stay the same for calculating the actual frequency, the LO values change for different bands. One possible solution is to provide a signal from the radio to the Arduino Frequency Counter to indicate what band is in use and the software then detects this signal and switches to the appropriate LO frequency. The radio's band switch is used to provide an output to a digital input on the Arduino to indicate the current band. Conclusion The possibilities are endless. We have provided a basic platform that can be used in many ways: as apiece of simple test gear for your workbench, to a frequency display for many QRP rigs. We hope to hear from you as to how you have used the frequency counter in your projects. Post your ideas and share your stories on our web site at wwwarduinoforhamradio.com.